Nanotech - The Circuits Blog

Thought that the newest laptop technology is always priced at a premium? Think again. Due in the next few weeks from Hewlett-Packard, Toshiba, Gateway and a host of other PC makers, some of the first laptops using Intel's new Core i3 processor will be priced as low as $700.

At the Consumer Electronics Show, which starts January 7, PC makers will debut laptops using Intel's freshly minted Core i3 processor, as was previously reported. Core i series processors are based on Intel's Nehalem microarchitecture. In 2010, the chipmaker will move most of its processor lines from the current Core 2 technology to the Core i design.

Core i3-based laptops are, in a word, cheap. Cheap in the context that these are systems using a brand new processor based on a new Intel microarchitecture--in the past, this kind of technology has commanded a steep premium. A system from HP now posted on online retailer eCost is priced at $865. And a Gateway laptop listed on Canadian retailer Future Shop is priced at $730 Canadian dollars or about $694 U.S. dollars.

And add a Toshiba system to the mix (priced at $799 Canadian dollars or about $763 U.S. dollars). The Toshiba Satellite (PSLS6C-00F005) packs the same Core i3 processor but uses a 16-inch screen, according to a posting on Future Shop.

HP Core i3-based Pavilion laptop (WA786UA#ABA) as listed by eCost:

• Processor: 2.13GHz Intel Core i3-330m
  
• Display: 15.6" LED
  
• Memory: 4096MB DDR3
  
• Hard disk drive: 320GB 7200rpm
  
• Optical drive: DVDRW
  
• Operating system: Windows 7 Professional 64-bit
  
• Video card: Intel Integrated Graphics Media Accelerator HD
  
• Price listed by eCost: $864.99
  

The $694 Gateway system has the same screen size (listed with a 1600 x 900 native resolution) and memory configuration as the HP laptop but ups the ante with a 500GB hard disk drive and, most interestingly, uses an as-yet-unannounced ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5470 graphics chip instead of Intel's graphics silicon.

Gateway Core i3-based laptop is below $700

(Credit: Future Shop)

Product specifications aside, one of the most anticipated laptop technologies at CES this year is Arrandale, the codename for Intel Core i series mobile processors targeted at the mainstream laptop market. The Arrandale-based Core i3 is the first mainstream Intel laptop processor to combine two processor cores and a graphics function together in one chip package (previously, the graphics chip was in a separate chipset), resulting in better overall power efficiency.

And the new built-in graphics technology will offer better graphics performance than current technology, according to Intel. The chipmaker will try in earnest to prove this at CES with plenty of demos showing off Arrandale's graphics prowess. (Though not all PC makers are convinced that Intel's new graphics technology is the way to go, as evidenced by Gateway's decision to use a discrete ATI graphics processor from Advanced Micro Devices).

One thing worth noting is that the Core i3 won't ... Read more

At the Consumer Electronics Show, Toshiba was showing prototypes that offer different takes on iPhone- and Netbook-like devices.

Toshiba is not offering a Netbook for the U.S. market but that doesn't mean it's not offering interesting alternatives--though, for now, only prototypes. The Japanese company was also showing a number of iPhone-like (both large and small) prototypes at CES.

Toshiba's "Internet Viewer" uses a display that is about 10 inches diagonally (same as a large Netbook) and can be detached from the keyboard

(Credit: Brooke Crothers)

Some iPhone-like Toshiba prototypes--and some not at all like the iPhone: one (lower, middle) appears to have two screens

(Credit: Brooke Crothers)

LAS VEGAS--At the Consumer Electronics Show, Jeff Ravencraft of Intel talked about the status of SuperSpeed USB 3.0 and how fast it really is.

The most salient benefit of SuperSpeed USB is the 10X improvement in data transfer speed over current USB, version 2.0. So, for example, transferring a 25GB HD movie will take 70 seconds instead of almost 14 minutes.

Transfer of a 25GB HD movie:

• USB 1.0: 9.3 hours
  
• USB 2.0: 13.9 minutes
  
• USB 3.0: 70 seconds
  

In the video below, Ravencraft, who is president of the USB Implementers Forum, discusses the merits of SuperSpeed USB and the schedule for commercial rollout.

LAS VEGAS--At the Consumer Electronics Show, Wireless USB devices made an appearance en masse.

What does that mean exactly? Wireless USB notebooks, docking stations, hard drives. And more consumer-centric devices like Wireless USB speakers, displays, and USB phones. In fact, Samsung was showing a prototype mobile phone. (See photo below.)

"It looks and feels like wired USB, only it's wireless," according to Jeff Ravencraft of Intel, who is president of the USB Implementers Forum, speaking in an interview at CES.

Over 130 products have been certified, according to Ravencraft. "The next thing in Wireless USB is Wireless USB 1.1 where we're adding upper band support for a worldwide footprint for ultra-wide-band frequency, easier association of the device to the host, and more power efficiency," Ravencraft said.

At close range, up to 3 meters, Wireless USB delivers up to 480 megabits per second, he said. At this range, throughput is essentially the same as wired USB, Ravencraft said. Up to 10 meters, this drops to a maximum throughput of 110 megabits per second.

Ravencraft said there are wireless hard disk drives in the market now.

ThinkPad notebook with Wireless USB Intel silicon

(Credit: Brooke Crothers)

Samsung DUOS mobile phone with Wireless USB

(Credit: Brooke Crothers)

IOGEAR was showing commercial devices with Wireless USB, including a Wireless USB audio adapter and a Wireless USB to VGA kit that makes monitors wireless.

(Credit: Brooke Crothers)

LAS VEGAS--If you haven't noticed, Toshiba doesn't offer a Netbook for the U.S. market.

Yes, that's right Toshiba--whose name is practically synonymous with laptops--is still undecided about committing to one of the hottest mobile PC markets in the U.S., according to Toshiba officials at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas on Thursday.

The Japanese company did launch the NB100 Netbook in December, but it is not marketed in the U.S., according to a Toshiba representative, speaking at CES.

Toshiba NB100 Netbook is marketed in Latin America

(Credit: Brooke Crothers)

This highlights the Netbook quandary some of the largest mobile computer markers are facing. Throw Sony into the we don't-offer-a-Netbook-either category. This week Sony launched the pricey Vaio Lifestyle PC that it is very careful to bill as the "world's lightest 8-inch notebook." It costs a cool $900--which does tend to disqualify it as Netbook since Netbooks are, by definition, inexpensive (typically under $400 and only occasionally venturing into $600 or $700 territory when, for example, a 3G Wireless Wide Area Network, or WWAN, option is added.)

Listening to a Toshiba representative at CES, the company seems genuinely perplexed by the Netbook category. Where is the real value-add? What if Netbooks begin eating into its notebook line?

On the latter point, Toshiba, like Sony and Apple, may also be worried about getting consumers hooked on low-cost laptops.

(Note: The Toshiba NB100 is marketed in Latin America, according to the representative.)

Intel's fourth-quarter warning is not only bad news but bad timing. With the Consumer Electronics Show kicking off Thursday adorned by all those bright, shiny gadgets, Intel effectively said: gadgets maybe, but not so bright and shiny.

And for an Intel warning, this one was particularly dire. The biggest chip bellwether said it now expects only $8.2 billion in revenue for the quarter, a 23 percent drop from the year-earlier period, and 20 percent from the third quarter. And this comes after issuing a warning on November 12.

So what's happening? The clearest example of the gloom that has descended on the chip industry, and by extension computer and gadget makers, came relatively early from another chip bellwether, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company -- the largest chip contract manufacturer, which supplies chips to all the first-tier electronics and computer makers. Back on October 30, TSMC issued a forecast that set the tone for the rest of the industry: CEO Rick Tsai said the supply chain -- the myriad of companies that order chips from TSMC -- was "reducing inventory very aggressively."

That supply chain, either directly or indirectly, is the computer and gadget makers of the world.

So going into CES, the picture is not pretty. "We just heard consumer electronics sales over the holidays were down 26 percent year to year," said Broadpoint AmTech analyst Doug Freedman. "You want to head into CES with a pall over it? There it is, right there."

And go the other way, up the supply chain -- the chip gear makers who supply production equipment to chip companies -- and things are even more bleak, with some gear makers saying they don't expect any orders at all in 2009 for certain categories of equipment. In December, Netherlands-based ASML CEO Eric Meurice said that "never before have we witnessed such a sharp and sudden fall-off in lithography system demand."

Other examples are almost too numerous to list: for starters, Toshiba and SanDisk slashing flash memory output 30 percent, Taiwan's memory chip industry on the verge of collapse, and Micron Technology posting a massive $706 million loss.

Yes, there's probably a silver lining in all of this, in that chipmakers and gadget suppliers have to cut the fat and become lean and mean, but where does it end?

And how will this downturn transform the computer industry? Looking at it through the prism of Netbooks -- which are expected to catch much of the limelight at CES -- may provide some insight. These cheap laptop computers are on fire, partially because they are compelling designs but mostly because of price. Good thing? Yeah, great for consumers and small businesses that are finally realizing they don't have to pay $2,000 for a small, lightweight ultraportable notebook. Or simply can't afford a $1,000 notebook.

But not so great for Intel, Apple, and others. "What is the most expensive laptop out there? The Apple (MacBook) Air," said Freedman. "That's a $1,500 or $2,000 machine. Now all of a sudden I'm giving you ultraportability for $500," he said, referring to the price of a Netbook.

In this sense, over-priced notebooks could be seen as roughly equivalent to large SUVs -- overkill. Just as General Motors must wean itself off lumbering SUVs, so may Intel, Hewlett-Packard, Sony, Toshiba, et al., be forced, to some extent, to wean themselves off high-profit notebook computers. After all, what took Sony so long to bring out a Netbook? And why don't we see an Apple Netbook? It's not a stretch to say that those companies don't like the idea of selling a lot of inexpensive computers.

At CES, companies will be hawking flashy gadgets, as always, and maybe attendees can suspend disbelief for a few days blinded by the glare of the gadgets. But that's really just lipstick on a pig.

Updated on December 18 at 3:25 p.m. with pricing information.

Toshiba said Wednesday that it will showcase a 512GB solid-state drive at the Consumer Electronics Show next month and begin shipments in the second quarter of 2009.

Toshiba 512GB solid-state drive rivals hard disks in capacity

(Credit: Toshiba)

To date, this would be one of the largest-capacity solid-state drives for use in laptops and come close to matching the size of mobile hard-disk drives.

Samsung has begun mass production of a 256GB SSD and Micron Technology is readying a 256GB drive that will ship in March.

Toshiba said it is releasing a broad family of "fast read/write SSDs" based on 43-nanometer Multi-Level Cell (MLC) NAND flash technology that will be showcased at CES. MLC technology allows solid-state drive makers to deliver higher capacity drives at lower prices.

In addition to the 2.5-inch 512GB drive, the new series of Toshiba drives also includes capacities of 64GB, 128GB, and 256GB, offered in 1.8-inch or 2.5-inch drive enclosures or as SSD Flash Modules, the company said in a statement.

Samples of the new drives will be available in the first quarter of 2009, with mass production slated for the second quarter, in the April to June time frame, according to the company.

Pricing in sample quantities ranges from $220 for the 64GB drive to $1,652 for the 512GB drive, Toshiba said.

The drives achieve a maximum sequential read speed of 240MB per second (MBps) and maximum sequential write speed of 200MBps. This is roughly the same read-write speeds offered by Samsung on its 256GB SSD.

Toshiba said it sees SSDs growing to approximately 25 percent of the notebook market by 2012.